Tom Yorke is adapting Radiohead’s Hail to Thief for a new production of Hamlet

Radiohead’s seminal, politically charged 2003 album, Hello thief!the Shakespearean twist will come to the stage next spring, when Tom York will adapt it for a new production. Hamlet. Titled: Hamlet Hail the Thiefthe show will feature William Shakespeare’s text and his songs Hello thief!which were reworked and arranged by Yorke for a cast of 20 musicians and actors.

Hamlet Hail the Thief adapted by director Stephen Hoggett and Christine Jones, with arrangements by Justin Levine. According to press materials, the feverish production will combine movement, theater and music in a brand new interpretation of the historical play.

“This is an exciting and daunting challenge,” York said in the press release. “Adapting the original music Hello thief! for a live performance with actors on stage to tell this story that’s been told forever, using his familiarity and sounds, taking them out of context and seeing what resonates with the underlying grief and paranoia. Hamletusing the music as a ‘presence’ in the room, watching it collide with the action and the text Ghosts against each other’.

Jones added:

The first Radiohead concert I ever saw was that Hello thief! tour in 2003. It changed my DNA. Before long I was reading Hamlet and listening to the album. Paying attention to the lyrics, I realized how many songs it was from Hello thief! talk about the themes of the play. There are unusual resonances between the text and the album.For years I wanted to see the play and the album collide in the theater; I eventually shared the idea with Tom, who was interested. I wasn’t sure what we were going to make, but I knew I wanted to make it with Steven and continue to experiment and build on the work we’ve done together over the years. during.

We found that the play haunts the album, and the album haunts the play. Both reflect the inner anxiety and anger that comes from the control of dominant power structures, be it in governments, communities, or families. The text and the music us relentlessly trying to question what we are made of and how to distinguish right from wrong.